Germany name inexperienced squad for US tour

Updated 16 May 2013 13:47:10

Germany coach Joachim Loew on Thursday named an inexperienced squad for their two-match tour of the United States with many first-choice stars unavailable due to the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Germany take on Ecuador in Boca Raton, Florida, on May 29, four days after the Champions League final at Wembley, then the USA in Washington DC on June 2.

Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski and centre-back Per Mertesacker, plus Lazio striker Miroslav Klose, are the most experienced members of the touring party with 322 caps between them.

The rest of the 23-man squad, which leaves next Wednesday, have a combined tally of just 154 appearances for Germany.

Veteran Klose, who turns 35 on June 9, is just one short of Gerd Mueller's record of 68 goals in 62 games in a Germany shirt.

Four new caps are included in the touring party -- Bayer Leverkusen's Philipp Wollscheid and Sidney Sam, plus Mainz's Nicolai Mueller and Freiburg's Max Kruse -- and Loew said they now have their chance to shine.

"Internationals like these give individual players the opportunity to show themselves," said Loew, who is also without Real Madrid stars Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira with the Spanish season finishing on June 1.

"Many players who have no previous involvement in the national team can now prove themselves and take responsibility."

Despite the Wembley final, Loew has still selected two Dortmund players.

Midfielders Sven Bender and Kevin Grosskreutz will fly Stateside directly after the Champions League final, while Klose will only join the team after the Italian Cup final on May 26 in Rome against AS Roma.

For the likes of Hamburg's Dennis Aogo, Hoffenheim's Andreas Beck, Leverkusen's Stefan Reinartz and Werder Bremen's Aaron Hunt, it is a chance to show they can still play at this level having previously lost their places in Loew's plans.

"They now have the chance to prove themselves again with us. I am very curious to see how they will use it," added the 53-year-old.